Daily Grist: Six of world's eight bear species under threat of extinction, and more

[Guest guest]

>Trouble a-Bruin

>Six of world's eight bear species under threat of extinction

>

>Pop quiz: Can you name the world's eight bear species? (Answer: American

>black, Asiatic black, brown, polar, panda, sun, sloth, and Andean. Gummy

>and Care are not acceptable answers.) Six of those eight are under threat

>of extinction, as the sun bear yesterday joined four of its bear-ethren in

>the " vulnerable " classification on the World Conservation Union's Red List

>of Threatened Species. The giant panda is listed as endangered on the

>list, while the brown bear and American black bear are classified as

> " least concern. " Says Simon Stuart of the Union, " The fact that six of

>eight bear species are under threat is bad news for species that are

>generally resilient and hang on under human pressure. "

>

>[ email | discuss | + digg | + del.icio.us ]

>sources: Reuters, BBC News

 

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[Guest guest]

>This Is Your Too-Minute Warning

>Target asks USDA to let it label meat treated with carbon monoxide

>

>Under pressure from Democrats in Congress, Target Corp. has asked the U.S.

>Department of Agriculture to let it attach warning labels to meat it sells

>that has been treated with carbon monoxide to make it appear fresher than

>it is. The proposed label reads: " CONSUMER NOTICE: Carbon monoxide has

>been used to preserve the color of this product. Do not rely on color or

>the 'use or freeze by' date alone to judge the freshness of the product.

>For best results please follow the Safe Handling Instructions. " In the

>wake of recent food-safety scares, other companies such as Safeway and

>Tyson Foods have vowed not to sell carbon monoxide-treated meat. But

>Target's move, while likely better than nothing, would not prohibit such

>meat from being sold in its stores. Congressional Democrats are also

>pressuring other big companies to stop selling CO-treated meat or label it.

>

>[ email | discuss | + digg | + del.icio.us ]

>source: The Wall Street Journal

>

>

> Wicked Smart

>Eensy-weensy Smart car getting a big embrace from U.S. drivers

>

>The Smart car ForTwo is coming to a dealer near you this winter -- or at

>least, semi-sorta-near you. Starting in January, about 70 dealers around

>the U.S. will sell the eight-foot-long two-seater, which gets 40-plus

>miles to the gallon (and made Grist's recent list of green cars). More

>than 30,000 people have put down $99 to reserve theirs. Drawing

>comparisons to a golf cart and eagerly awaited by urbanites frustrated by

>tight parking, the Smart car -- sold in 36 countries around the world --

> " turns heads wherever it goes, " says David Schembri, president of Smart

>USA. " I tell people, 'If you want to feel like a rock star, drive this car.' "

>

>[ email | discuss | + digg | + del.icio.us ]

>sources: USA Today, Salon

>see also, in Grist: 15 Green Cars

 

******

Kraig and Shirley Carroll ... in the woods of SE Kentucky

http://www.thehavens.com/

thehavens

606-376-3363

 

 

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